Semiconductor devices such as Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) are manufactured on wafers that provide a semiconductor substrate for the semiconductor device. A diameter of the wafer can be equal to or greater than 300 mm. A thickness of the wafer can be less than 300 μm. Such a wafer can easily break. In order to strengthen the wafer against breakage, the wafer can be provided with a so-called Taiko ring that has a larger thickness than a central portion of the semiconductor wafer where the semiconductor devices are manufactured. The Taiko ring surrounds the central portion of the semiconductor wafer and reduces a risk of breakage of the semiconductor wafer.
At some stage in the manufacturing process, the Taiko ring has to be removed. Cutting the Taiko ring from the central portion of the wafer releases particles. Some of the particles can settle on a surface of the wafer where the particles can act as an impurity that compromises functionality of the semiconductor devices on the wafer. For example, an acoustic sensor requires a cavity for a movable microphone membrane. Impurity particles that settle within the cavity can affect how the microphone membrane moves thereby altering a response of the acoustic sensor to pressure waves that hit the microphone membrane.